


For You, Anything

by DisposableVillain



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boyfriends, Canon Compliant, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Enemies, Friendship, Games, Love, M/M, Once Upon a Time (TV) References, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2019-11-03 22:44:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17886545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisposableVillain/pseuds/DisposableVillain
Summary: Ryou met Bakura when he was young; he was a present from his father. Well, his home was anyway. So how did he grow to hate him so much? Especially when Bakura would do anything for him.





	For You, Anything

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Elliot. This is an old fic I'm posting in 2019 but with the original date I wrote it. Hope you enjoy.

New Year and Christmas were always quiet affairs in the Bakura household. Or at least, they were since Amane had died.

Either Akane or Hotaru came home for the holidays. Never both at the same time. Especially since they had moved.

Ryou always had to make his own way to school, make his own meals, wash his own clothes, everything.

No one else in the third grade did what he did. As far as he knew anyway. And if they did, they were a lot better at it than Ryou was.

But he got by.

But Christmas and New Year were always his favourite times of the year. Especially that moment that he heard the front door open.

"Dad!" He cheered, running to the front of the apartment and throwing his arms around the figure in the hall.

Hotaru grinned and returned the hug. "I missed you too, Ryou."

"You were meant to be here an hour ago." Ryou looked up at him, pouting.

Hotaru hesitated. Just for a second. "The plane got in late," he explained before swiftly changing the subject. "Would you like an early Christmas present?"

Ryou hesitated, looking worried. "But... it's only Christmas Eve. I'm not meant to open anything until tomorrow. Won't Santa be mad?"

Hotaru released Ryou and turned around, fumbling around in his bag. "Santa will know how good you've been all year. And it's more of a souvenir than a Christmas present." He pulled a brown package tied with string out and held it out to Ryou.

Despite Ryou's previous hesitance, his eyes lit up as he took the package. He tore off the paper, revealing a golden item with five prongs and the Eye of Horus in the middle of it what is it?"

"It's called the Millennium Ring," Hotaru explained. "I found it in a market. The vendor told me that it's supposed to be lucky."

Ryou beamed up at him. "Maybe it'll help me make some friends!" Most people in his elementary school avoided him because of his pale skin and white hair, leaving him with nothing to do once he finished his homework and chores.

Hotaru grinned and ruffled his son's hair. "I'm sure it will."

* * *

Ryou looked up as a boy with brown hair and green eyes sat across from him in the sand box. "Um... hello?"

The boy gave a shy smile and waved.

"I'm Ryou." Ryou returned the smile. "What's your name?"

The boy looked around for a moment before grinning and grabbing a stick. _I'm Koike,_ he wrote in the sand.

Ryou tilted his head. "Don't you talk?"

Koike looked down and shook his head.

Ryou smiled. "That's okay. Do you like reading?"

Koike looked up, his eyes brightening again as he nodded.

"What's your favourite book?"

 _Harry Potter,_ Koike decided. _What about you?_

"Same!" Ryou giggled. "Is this your first day?"

Koike nodded. _Yeah. I'm in the second class._

Ryou frowned. "I'm in the first..."

Koike smiled. _At least we have the same lunch time. We can play together._

Ryou's heart skipped a beat. The Ring around his neck seemed to heat up a bit. "You want to play with me?"

Koike nodded. _Of course. You're really nice and you're the first friend I've made aside from my cousins, and they're both in the fourth grade._

Ryou's smile grew. Then the bell rang and his smile dropped. He and Koike stood up. "Do you want to play tomorrow?" Ryou asked.

Koike smiled and nodded. "Yeah," he mumbled in barely above a whisper. "I'd love to."

* * *

_"What are you watching?"_

Ryou looked around and smiled when he saw a somewhat-transparent boy about his age with rusty eyes and wilder hair. "Hi Bakura. You haven't been out in a while."

A few years had passed since he had first gotten the Ring – three, actually.

He still only really had Koike as his friend, but there was also Bakura. He met the spirit of the ring on the way home from school one day.

He wasn't very polite and he broke things a lot, but he was nice once Ryou got to know him.

Bakura continued to frown at the screen. _"What are you watching?"_ He repeated.

Ryou looked back at the television. "It's called _Once Upon a Time._ It's a fairytale show."

Bakura snorted. _"Sounds dull."_

"It's not!" Ryou insisted. "There's a lot of really cool characters and plot twists and action! I think you'd like Captain Hook in it."

Bakura snorted again, raising an eyebrow. _"Really? Captain Hook?"_ Ryou nodded. _"Alright, I'll humour you."_ He sat next to Ryou, crossing his legs. _"Which one is he?"_

"That one." Ryou pointed him out. "The one with the dark hair."

Bakura hummed. " _He's hot, I'll give him that. Anything else?"_

"He lives a life searching for vengeance and then ends up falling in love and trying to stop," Ryou replied.

Bakura looked at him. _"Imagine that,"_ he mumbled under his breath. Ryou was silent for a moment. Bakura turned back to the screen and frowned. _"Why is there a nun in a fairytale show? Has the Catholic church really even taken those over?"_

Ryou giggled and shook his head. "No, silly. She's the blue fairy. Whenever anyone wishes for her, she appears." He hesitated. "Bakura?"

_"What?"_

"If I wished for you, would you show up?"

Bakura looked back at him. _"Ryou, you don't need to wish for me. I'll always be here."_

"I know you will." Ryou fidgeted with a loose thread on the couch. "But... just in case you're not."

_"But I will."_

"But just in case you're not."

Bakura rolled his eyes. _"Yeah, I'll show up,"_ he said. Ryou grinned and hugged him – or, tried to. Bakura laughed. _"You never learn, do you? You can't touch me."_

"I will one day." Ryou looked up as the bell rang. "Sorry, Bakura; you'll need to go back into the ring. Koike's here."

Bakura frowned. _"Who?"_

"Koike," Ryou repeated. "He's a friend of mine. He came over to play."

Bakura faltered. _"But... I'm your friend..."_

"Of course you are. But so is Koike."

Bakura scowled and disappeared without another word. Ryou blinked. "Odd. He usually says goodbye."

The doorbell rang again but before he could get up, his world faded.

* * *

"I hate you!"

 _"It was for your own good."_ Bakura stood leaning against the counter, his arms folded.

Ryou glared at him, tears streaming down his cheeks. "You... you hurt my friend!"

 _"He'll be fine,"_ Bakura snorted. _"Besides, now you have a new figure for your Monster World diorama."_

"Yeah but I didn't want you to turn Koike into a doll!" Ryou screamed. "Why would you do this?"

_"So he won't leave you."_

"He was my friend Bakura!"

Bakura's eyes flashed. _"I'm your friend. Isn't that good enough for you?"_ He hissed. _"You wished on the Millennium Ring for a friend, so here I am. You don't need anyone else."_

Ryou shook his head, glaring. "For my wish to have been granted, you would need to be my friend."

Bakura's eyes widened. _"What?"_

"You heard me!" Ryou snapped. "You're not my friend!"

Bakura slammed his fist down on the counter. Despite him not having a physical form, it sounded real. Real enough to make Ryou flinch. _"Of course I'm your friend!"_

"Friends don't turn their friend's other friends into dolls!" Ryou screamed.

 _"Then I guess you're just that lucky,"_ Bakura hissed. _"I must be the best friend you've ever had, 'cause you don't seem to realise that I did this for you! If I didn't do anything, he would have left eventually! He would have hurt you! Now you don't have to go through that!"_

"I would have preferred to go through that than this!" Ryou shook his head. "His family think he's going to die!"

 _"He won't!"_ Bakura insisted. _"He'll just be in a coma until his soul returns to his body!"_

"And when will you release his soul?" Ryou asked. "A year? Two? Ten?"

_"When I feel like it."_

"And how will I know that you'll ever 'feel like it'?"

_"I promise I'll eventually let him go."_

Ryou shook his head. "That's not good enough," he whispered, drying his tears on his sleeve.

_"Ryou-"_

"No." He turned away. "Go back to the Ring, Bakura. And don't come back." He walked towards his room.

Hurt flared in Bakura's eyes before cold darkness seeped into them. A cruel smirk stretched onto his face _. "You're going to regret this, yadonushi. That I can most certainly promise you."_

* * *

Ryou sighed, dropping the dish he was washing into the sink. He heard a crash. The plate probably broke but he couldn't bring himself to care all that much.

Three months had passed. Three months since the Pharaoh had defeated Bakura and moved onto the afterlife.

He didn't know what had happened to Bakura. He knew he wasn't dead.

He had tried to contact him, with Marik's help. He was in neither the Shadow Realm nor the afterlife.

And Ryou knew he'd rather die than wander around the world as a ghost. Or, rather die _again_.

He gripped the sides of the sink. He wanted him back.

He didn't know why, but he missed him. Maybe it was because he had his own headspace after all those years of sharing it with Bakura.

Maybe because despite Koike contacting him after he woke up from his coma, Ryou missed having someone to watch _Once Upon a Time_ with.

Maybe because Ryou missed him. Without a reason. He just _missed_ him.

He had blocked out – or at least tried to – the bad memories of the past few years.

It was easier now that he had his own mind again – one of the benefits. Now he could remember the better times, before he turned twelve.

_"If I wished for you, would you show up?"_

_"Ryou, you don't need to wish for me. I'll always be here."_

_"I know you will."_

_"But... just in case you're not."_

_"But I will be."_

_"But just in case you're not."_

_"Yeah, I'll show up."_

He turned away from the sink and leaned against the counter, closing his eyes. _Gods... Bakura, I need you... I want you back..._ He bit back a sob. _I wish you were here..._

"Someone call?"

His eyes flashed open. Bakura. Leaning against the wall. Physical. Smiling – not smirking.

Bakura.

Tears streamed down Ryou's cheeks. He ran at Bakura and threw his arms around him. Bakura tightly wrapped his arms around Ryou's waist. "I've got you..."

"I told you I'd be able to touch you some day," Ryou mumbled before pulling away slightly. He hit Bakura's chest. "And what the hell makes you think you can just teleport back here or whatever you did after dying on me, you bastard?"

Bakura's eyes widened. "I-"

"You left me! Alone!"

"You had Yugi and his friends," Bakura pointed out.

Ryou shook his head. "Anzu left for America with Joey, Marik's in Egypt, Yugi's gone to college with Tristan, and Duke and Kaiba don't like me."

"What about Koike?"

Ryou swallowed. "He called. Once." He tried to hit his chest again but Bakura caught his wrist. "Dammit Bakura..." Ryou buried his head in his chest. "You left me alone," he sobbed.

"I know," Bakura murmured. "I'm sorry. But I'm back now." He stroked Ryou's hair. "And I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Ryou sniffed. "How did you get back?" He whispered.

Bakura smiled. "You wished it," he said, lacing his fingers beneath Ryou's chin and lifting his face so that he was looking into Bakura's rusty eyes. He gently dried Ryou's tears with his thumb. "I promised I'd find you if you wished me to," he murmured, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to Ryou's lips. "And I always stick to any promises I make you, Ry."

Ryou blushed at the kiss. "If it happens again?" He whispered. "If you disappear again and I wish for you to be back here, will you be?"

Bakura chuckled. "For you," he murmured, "anything."

"Promise," Ryou insisted.

Bakura kissed him again, whispering against Ryou's lips, "I promise."

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it, please review.


End file.
